Researchers reveal why some people are poor at decision making

Ever wondered why sometimes you find it difficult in deciding between two entities? According to a new research, the state of confusion arises because the communication channel between two regions in the brain that represent different preferences get disrupted. Hence, we are unable to choose between two products.

Lead researcher Christian Ruff, a neuro economist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland said that poor information flow between two regions of brain severely affected the preference-based decisions.

For the study, researchers generated coordinated oscillations in particular brain regions with the help of transcranial alternating current stimulation method also known as non-invasive brain stimulation method. Researchers used the same method to stimulate brains of participants. In addition, people who participated in the study were not aware of the fact that they being stimulated.

With the help of current stimulation, researchers controlled the information flow between the prefrontal cortex located directly below the forehead and the parietal cortex just above both ears. Study authors sometimes increased the information flow while sometimes they hampered the passage of information.

After the stimulation, participants were asked to make a purely sensory decision about food. After analysing the data, study authors found that all the participant found more difficulty in making decision when the information flow between certain regions of the brain was hampered or blocked.

Men and women both reported increased difficulty in making decision after disruption of information flow. However, intensified information flow did not help in decision making. The study authors don’t know about the exact mechanism behind such variations. Moreover, the study has given new insight in understanding decision making and can have several therapeutic effect especially for those patients who suffer from brain disorders including indecisiveness.